The Write To Play

[1000storyideas]

Outlining your novel scene by scene (Part 1)

Did you ever feel bored midway writing a scene? Or lukewarm? Do you feel like readers will jump full chunks of text?

Well, I used to feel that all the time.

I disliked outline with a passion. I thought it stole the magic away from creation. I thought it would trap my story in a box. Whenever I tried, I had no idea where to start, so I blamed outlining all over again. I would just write the first scene and allow my story to unfold itself. Although it is fun to let your story take the lead, it’s also chaotic.

I realized the importance of outlining on my third book. After months and months of hard work, my story turned out just… boring. Weak characters. A plot full of holes. No defined theme. Useless scenes. And a story that started with a goal, but changed so many times along the pages and accomplished almost nothing. Slow. Tedious. I was frustrated. I had to delete more than half to make it work. Even after rewriting, I wasn’t happy. That project was a major fail.

And failing was good, because, on my next project, I outlined. 

I listed all arcs and, within the arcs, all scenes. I was mad. I wanted control. I wanted power. And I only sat down to write when I knew exactly what was going to happen from start to finish. I never wrote something that fast and effortlessly in my life. It didn’t take away the magic of writing, it simply gave me a sense of direction.

Outline is a map. And when you have a map, you have a journey to make.

If, like me, you are a bit lost, here’s how you can create the map for your next novel, or how to outline your book scene by scene. I’ll share with you three techniques, but will divide them into three posts. This is the part one. Or the Map Technique.

I advice you to grab pen and paper, and move away from the computer. Find a comfortable spot, maybe a coffee shop, or by your window. And let’s work!

Before outlining, write down your storyline in one phrase. I’ll be using an example to help you understand this technique. So, my storyline is:

Masked twins fight against a violent dictatorship.

Now, let’s start.

In every journey, we need a departure point and an arrival point. This is essential for a map. And, if it’s essential for a map, it’s essential for our outline. So, create the start (departure) and the end (arrival) of your story. With my example, it goes:

Twins have their lives destroyed by the government (departure)

They destroy the government (arrival)

Amazing!! Our map is taking form. 

What else a journey must have? Milestones. Without milestones, we don’t know how far we are from the arrival. They are essential as well. But how can we put milestones in an outline? Easy. Between departure and arrival, you will list every important arc (or event, or key scene, or plot point) that must happen in order to take the plot from start to end. More or less like this:

Twins have their lives destroyed by the government (departure)

Their family is destroyed

They are taken in by their uncle

Uncle and twins plan their revenge

Twins find their mask

Twins perform small acts of justice

They gain the respect of the citizens

Government sees them as threat

Government tries to erase them

Twins perform huge acts of justice

They are almost killed 

Uncle is killed

They perform one last act of justice by killing the dictator

Citizens claim for democracy

Democracy is installed

The twins destroy their masks 

They destroy the government (arrival)

All milestones are placed, nothing too fancy, just a description of what we’ll be seeing along the journey. Good. 

From milestone to milestone, we have roads, or sequences of roads. Between arcs, write down sequences of scenes that must happen to move the plot forward. For example: 

Twins have their lives destroyed by the government (departure)

Their family is destroyed

Twins live with their father (who is an important journalist)

Father is abducted by the government

Social worker takes them to lonely uncle

They are taken in by their uncle

Twins and uncle can’t adjust to new life

They are all filled with grief

Uncle comes up with revenge plan

Uncle and twins plan their revenge

Twins trains while uncle perfects his plan

Twins and uncle adjust to new life

They become a family

Twins find their mask

Getting ready for their first step

Twins perform small acts of justice

They destroy factory that uses slave force

They kill politician who closed hospitals

They kill a famous torturer for the government party

They find their father’s file

Discover that father was tortured and killed

They gain the respect of the citizens

…

We are almost there… 

Because, in every mile of the road, we have landscapes. Scenes are landscapes. And we need hundreds of different landscapes along the journey, beautiful ones, strange ones, unexpected ones… we need scenes. To every sequence, create as many scenes as you need:

Twins have their lives destroyed by the government (departure)

Their family is destroyed

Twins live with their father (who is an important journalist)

Father receives a journalism award

Twins enjoy the party

It’s time to go

Father drives them home

Father is abducted by the government

In isolated street, the car is stoped

Two man attacks them and abducts their father

One of the twins receive a scar on their face

Twins are left alone in deserted street

Social worker takes them to lonely uncle

Social worker takes them from the hospital

Drives them to poor area

Leaves them with unknown uncle

They are taken in by their uncle

Twins and uncle can’t adjust to new life

Twins can’t eat

Twins won’t leave the house

Uncle tries to get information on what happened to his brother, but fails

It’s believed that their father died

They are all filled with grief

Uncle and twins have a sincere talk about father, they tell past stories, they laugh, they cry

For the first time, they have dinner together

Uncle comes up with revenge plan

…

You can almost see the story playing inside your head like a movie. That’s the magic of a scene by scene outline. :D

This last step is optional. But it’s a great exercise to trim the rough edges. Under each scene, catalog which character(s) you’ll need, what place(s) will be used, what does the scene accomplishes and ways it can unfold. Example:

Father receives a journalism award

Characters: Father, twins, father’s coworkers, VIPs

Place: Banquet hall 

Accomplishment: To show that father is a famous journalist that gives no chills for what the dictator says

Possibilities: 

Father is announced as the award winner

Speech against the dictator

Ends speech by showing his love for his son/daughter(s)

Twins are proud (and kind of embarrassed as well)

Applause, applause

Nice food

Beautiful dresses

It’s the twins birthday

Or it’s Christmas

Open hall with garden

Fireworks

Rich people

Takes time, but, now, you have the most detailed map a traveller can possess. It’s easy to depart, just take a seat and enjoy the ride.

I hope it helps somehow. Next time I’ll show you a different technique. 

[jhmcmullen]

Since I have problems finishing things, this seemed a useful way to run to grasp outlining.

[jhmcmullen]

(Ex) Sidekicks 7

GMPCs

Zombies

As minions, they don’t need Stamina, but if you ever use them as non-minions, there it is. And the Burrowing is used to get out of the graves, and nothing more. Perhaps it doesn’t even need to be there.

Abilities Prowess 3 Coordination 2 Strength 4 Intellect - Awareness 2 Willpower 3 Stamina 8

Specialties None

Powers Burrowing 3 (Limit: Temporary)

Qualities Re-animated corpse.

Putty Lad

Abilities Prowess 5 Coordination 3 Strength 3 Intellect 3 Awareness 3 Willpower 5 Stamina 8

Specialties Athletics

Powers Transformation [humanoids, extra: Objects] 6; Alternate form [Ooze] 3; Stretching 5; Damage Resistance 3

Qualities Nickname among other sidekicks: “Slutty Putty”

Brock Fenton

Abilities Prowess 5 Coordination 7 Strength 4 Intellect 3 Awareness 6 Willpower 5 Stamina 9

Specialties Medicine

Powers Nullify [Magic & inherent powers, extra: Ranged] 6

Qualities Doing This For Grampa; Eye For The Ladies; Secret Ancestry

Nurse Anodyne (Anne Dyne)

Abilities Prowess 5 Coordination 4 Strength 4 Intellect 4 Awareness 6 Willpower 5 Stamina 9

Specialties Medicine Expert (+2)

Powers Stunning [extra: Side Effect: Mind Control (only people she’s Stunned)] 6

Qualities Doctor In Her Own Right; Connected to Theodora Darna; Whomever She Needs To Be

Theodora Darna

Abilities Prowess 4 Coordination 5 Strength 3 Intellect 7 Awareness 5 Willpower 7 Stamina 10

Specialties Business, Occult Expert (+2)

Powers Magic 8; Mastered Spell: Herakles’ Gift [Ability Boost Strength 8]; Mastered Spell: Homeward Bound [Teleport extra: Rangeless Limit: Preparation]; Brooch of Odin (device) [Aura 3]; Arguments over her soul [Immortality] 1

Qualities Quest for Knowledge; Wanted by Heaven and Hell; Betrayal Is Always an Option

[jhmcmullen]

(Ex) Sidekicks 6

Scene 4: The Reading of the Will

The will is read in a converted Edwardian brownstone, the office of Severn Arbogast. Mr. Arbogast has done civil law for the superhero community for several decades; he's close to retirement. He has started passing off newer work to his assistants, Rachel Karsh and Harvey Creek. However, he handles all the affairs of Steven Hubble. The will is being read in several sessions, as Mr. Hubble wanted. Principal inheritors were dealt with on Friday. Now the secondary inheritors.

The prefatory text mentions that Doc Cosmic wanted to leave a legacy. Each sidekick present gets a memento from Doc Cosmic's base. (Remaining materials go with the base, which is now the responsibility of the Guardians. If the GM wants, the Guardians might give them a second memento, because Hubble's choices seem odd.) Each PC gets a memento that matches their origin. This is actually because the memento will act as a focus for soul transfer. Posible devices include:

OriginDevice ArtificialEmotion chip (Dintargan the Destroyer); Heart of Navur (Bunbekin the Golem) BirthrightNecklace (Mesothrall) GimmickThe Mephistopholes Wand (Mr. Mephistopholes) TrainedThe Scarab Ring (Crimson Scarab) TransformedQuantum Knucklebuster (Quantum Thug) UnearthlyKatharkian Scepter (Captain Raptor)

The GM can switch them up if something feels like it would be a better match for the PCs.

Mr. Arbogast warns them not to use the mementos; they were in the possession of villainous people. Rusty has been fetching them back and forth, but some mementos can't be close together or things happen. (If asked, Rusty says, "I had a transformation. I don't like to talk about it.")

Rusty will deliver the mementos to the PCs by five in the afternoon.

Researching the Will

A bit of investigation (Googling or investigation) reveals:

Rusty Rooster had signing authority for Hubble; he changed Hubble's will (at Hubble's request) eleven months ago. Rusty visits Hubble every week.

A PC with telepathy might check: Rusty insists that changing the will was Hubble's idea, but a massive success on Telepathy reveals mental "footprints". The whole sidekicks idea might have been planted in Rusty's brain by someone with mind control.

Google or web searches will tell them what the mementos might do; only Rusty can tell them how to work the mementos (unless the memento doesn't do anything or the GM decides they don't know).

Scene 5: The Mementos and the Kidnapping

This scene has two purposes: the PCs need to get the mementos, and then they need to be overpowered to be placed in the ritual. The biggest problem with that--even though it's very comic book--is that players hate to be kidnapped.

The actual mechanism of the kidnapping depends entirely on the PCs. The generic mechanism is this:

Rusty delivers the mementos at once.

Brock appears, really because he has been following Rusty but ostensibly his reason is to see one or more of the PCs.

Brock neutralizes what powers of the PCs that he can. Each players gets a determination point because Brock has to stunt Burst to do this.

Other thugs hired by Brock knock the PCs out. If necessary, the thugs have minor powers through items enchanted by Theodora.

It is totally meta-gaming, but it can work to explain to the players that their characters are to be kidnapped. It is worth another determination point allowing this to go on.

Scene 6: The Ritual

The PCs are tied to gurneys in the big ritual chamber. One PC is at the center of the pentagram, others are along the edge. The mementos are tucked in with them, but out of reach. Powers are still neutralized.

The pentagram has five people in robes at the corners; Nurse Dyne was in the triangle, and another woman who they had never seen before was in the square. (A PC might recognize her as Theodora Darna.) And the ritual is underway...

Even though the PCs probably don't have powers, there are a number of ways to escape.

Any player can attempt a Coordination roll (plus possibly Sleight of Hand) to escape the ties. Any applicable quality can be invoked.

Any player can attempt to disrupt Kent's concentration and destroy the Burst stunt.

At the least, any PC yelling will bring a henchman over to gag them, and that might provide an opportunity.

The PC might be able to move the memento into range for use, and provide the extra abilities necessary to escape.

Once the PCs have escaped, they need to fight. Theodora Darna will attempt to escape as soon as things go bad, but fighting Brock and Nurse Anodyne and four henchman should provide a rousing climax (and they might get Theodora Darna).

[jhmcmullen]

(Ex) Sidekicks 5

Scene 2: Funeral

The funeral is held at the Endurance Methodist Church in the morning, and the body is to be interred in the Hubble family crypt, in the attached graveyard. For the most part, heroes attend in costume, because it’s their costumed identities have the relationship with Doc Cosmic.

The church is packed, and the PCs have to stand near the door. The service is nice (it turns out an attending hero has his Doctor of Divinity and hosts the service). The PCs open the doors for the pall bearers, and are therefore the people who notice the zombies.

Yes, zombies.

(In fact, the zombies are an attempt at a warning by some supernatural being; Theodora Darna is not well liked in some mystical circles. Aim the warning at the logical PC, or skip the zombies entirely. They are useful to demonstrate a simplified version of combat with the minion rules.)

Zombies have pulled themselves out of the ground (mostly…one starts the page still buried to the waist). The PCs are in the best place to deal with them. There are three zombies per PC; use the minion rules. Besides the usual zombie moans, the zombies are trying to say something. An unconscious zombie is an un-animated zombie. A really good hits disintegrates them…these are old bodies, from the 1930s and 1940s. The fact that they even make sounds is a testament to the embalming process.

Using the minion rules, the PCs should make quick work of them. If they need weapons, the groundskeepers left a spade and a rake in sight.

The actual internment in the crypt goes flawlessly, though there might be dead bodies on the graveyard lawn….

After the funeral, people go to the Methodist Community Center for a reception. The church ladies have made sandwiches. It’s a fine opportunity for the PCs to investigate.

Some items are common knowledge (marked “free”); some are public and need only to be mentioned (“I’m investigating…” and marked (investigate). Others are discovered through the use of qualities or pyramid tests.

What was that?

If there was an incident with zombies, the players probably want to know what just happened.

With the minion rules, it’s unlikely that they have a zombie to question, but they might. If they do, the complete message is “sidekick name, beware.”

In the aftermath, the bodies can be identified by the graves they crawled from. The zombies are just the people who were buried around the crypt. It looks like someone or something with the power to animate corpses used what was available. The PCs get the sense that who they were isn’t important.

If anyone can read residual magic, the magic is similar to the magic on the former TwirlyGirl’s magic boots. There’s a difference between “divine” magic (heaven, hell, angels, and demons) and “fey” magic (leprechauns, trolls, dragons). There are other types of magic as well, but the people involved in the adventure were only aware of the difference between divine and fey magics.

Who was at the funeral?

They identified some of the people at the funeral, including:

Rusty Rooster (formerly the Jimmy Olsen to Doc Cosmic’s Superman)

Silk Cat (the daughter of the original Silk Cat, but who was currently on the side of the law…though she’d been on both sides)–her mother had a relationship with Doc Cosmic, and her parentage is a mystery, even to her; PCs will. naturally assumed tht Doc Cosmic is secretly her father

Nurse Dyne from the Golden Age retirement home

An old man in a wheelchair with horrible scarring (League Seven tentatively identified him as Doctor Armageddon, a former world-threat super villain whose body had been so wasted that even though his mind was there, his body was almost useless)

The orderly Brock Fenton from Golden Age who was tending him, and who had that muscular super-person look

Putty Lad, of course, whose response to them depends on their earlier response

Azuziel (a winged man), who claims to be a fallen angel, and who gave them information on divine versus fey magic, including that the residual magic around the zombies was “fey magic” but that is not his specialty, so he can’t identify it

Through talking with other people in attendance, they can learn that no one understands why the ex-sidekicks are even in the will. Apparently that change was made six months ago or so; Rusty made it, saying that Doc Cosmic had asked for it during a lucid period. (Rusty has power of attorney for Doc Cosmic’s estate).

Brock Fenton is interested in any PC who talks to him, and suggests a dinner date, whether it’s romantic or platonic.

Researching Doc Cosmic

This is available by talking to Rusty or (most of it) by Googling.

Doc Cosmic had invulnerability, flight, and “power over cosmic energy,” which had variable effects, but he normally used for increased strength or “cosmic blasts.” He had used it for various sensory powers, too. (Free)

Doc Cosmic went public in 1977, and was a founding member of the Guardians (1979). (Free)

This was his first death, though he did disappear three times for a year or more at a time. (Free)

In the 2000s, he started to show signs of early-onset Alzheimer’s, and shortly after that, he retired, By 2010, his condition had worsened so much that he was put into the Golden Age, an old age facility for supers. Several of his old foes were already in there. (Investigate)

His father died in 1975; his mother in 1992. Both are in the family crypt. (Investigate)

The Hubble family came into the possession of a fortune in gold, after the city bout their farm, while gold was at nearly a thousand dollars an ounce. Their son Steve found the gold while on vacation; appropriate taxes were paid on it.

The secret base (in the Colorado mountains) has two entrances. One is under the old farmhouse; an underground rail car goes through an evacuated tunnel to the secret base. The trip feels slightly odd because of Coriolis forces, and takes 22 minutes. There is a password.

The crypt is heavily secured but is easy to get out of. (Hubble was aware of the tendency for heroes to return from the dead.)

Retrofitting on the crypt was done by Wreckreation, a company that started by dealing with danger rooms.

Researching Old Foes and the Golden Age

Because he went into the Golden Age as a relatively young man, there aren’t many foes of his in the retirement home. However, there are some, and there are other villains.

The foes of his are Electrophasm (ability to change into electrical plasma and electricity) and Dr. Armageddon (body wrecked from his armor), Mr. Mephistopheles, Crimson Scarab, and Silk Cat, who was primarily a thief.

Other (former) villains include Rocket Raider (Gimmick-based high tech thief), Tech Tok (thief who worked through mechanical “avatars”), and Radium Lord (powered villain).

Nurse Dyne is a new hire, having started at the Golden Age fourteen months ago. She has a good record.

If anyone actually investigates her record…it exists on paper. If you talk to her references, they say a canned response about how good she is, but they have no actual memories of her.

In the time since Nurse Dyne joined, two others have joined as orderlies, and both are on Nurse Dyne’s shift.

Scene 3: Investigations And a Dinner Date

This is largely a continuation of the previous scene, with the PCs investigating. If any PC accepted Brock Fenton's invitation for dinner, that happens this evening.

Various heroes who attended the funeral will want to share information without being bugged. Though there might be clever answers, the best place for any non-genius who doesn't carry anti-bugging equipment is the park. If the PCs split up, you might need to intercut between them.

Superheroes sharing information can be met at the park or, with the correct powers, overheard. If the PCs missed vital information before, you can insert it here. The important things are:

No one knows why the sidekicks are in the will.

The change that put the sidekicks in the will is less than a year old.

There's a rumor that Theodora Darna is trying to sell something at the Golden Age.

There are conflicting stories about Darna's origin, but the one that she tells most often has her as a lover of a scholar four hundred years ago who took his books. She has been playing off factions of Hell and Heaven since then, in the quest for greater arcane knowledge. Darna may be a liar, but some famous heroes treat her as a credible threat to the world. She's certainly a person with a strong magical knowledge and some spells.

At the dinner with Brock, he'll be open about his power: he can nullify any inherent power. This makes him useful as an orderly, because some of the old folks can't control themselves any more. He is useful when the old guy who can lift a mountain has an episode. He lives on the Golden Ages grounds...he is essentially on call.

Anyone who can get into the Golden Age (the security system is difficulty 5, though it can be circumvented with the appropriate specialties or powers) can search. The underground hangar is relatively easy to find. The hidden occult chamber is difficult, but access to it is in Brock's room, and he intends to check it when he gets home tonight.

[jhmcmullen]

(Ex) Sidekicks 4

Optional Chapter 1: Arrival

If you want, you might play out a small bit involving the arrival of the PCs in Endurance. Possible bits:

Car rental

Recognizing an old friend

Conflict with another ex-sidekick or mentor

Being recognized and quizzed about life choices since “the old days”

What Do We Know About Each Other?

In the interests of time, the PCs are able to recognize each other as people in “the life” if they don’t already know each other. The city has a number of visitors who are obviously in the life (usually athletic, low body fat, muscular, tall) or who are recognizable in secret ID if a PC knows them. Presumably someone who recognizes them won’t out them: they’re secret identities, after all.

The PCs run into Putty Lad, who knew at least one of them way back when, and whose nickname in the sidekick community was “Slutty Putty” because he was a pansexual shape-changing horn dog who didn’t care what equipment his partner (or partners) had.

From Putty Lad, they can learn that he has no idea about why the ex-sidekicks are invited, that he’s heard of the Golden Age (perhaps his former mentor visits someone there).

At the very least, Putty Lad’s attitude toward possible partners hasn’t changed, and he’ll proposition any or all of them.

[jhmcmullen]

(Ex) Sidekicks 3

The adventure takes place in Endurance, Kansas, the small city where Doc Cosmic is to be buried.

The players have rooms rented for them in the city’s nicest hotel, the Five Corners, built at a five-way intersection downtown. Any players who asked for a car have a rental: usually a compact, but there are so many people coming to town, that the rental company had to make mid-size and large cars available, too. (Nothing like a Prius or a Tesla or a Lamborghini is available for rent.)

Rentals happen at the airport, about a twenty minute drive outside of town.

There will be no viewing; mindful of the danger from a last-minute revenge scheme, Doc Cosmic will be interred straight from the funeral. (The body hasn’t been prepared in any way; Doc Cosmic was invulnerable to most weapons, making embalming a chancy proposition.)

Answers about Doc Cosmic in particular are in the Investigation write up, but PCs can have some of that information before the funeral, if they want.

The hotel has a pool, a fitness room, a bar (“Outlaws”) and a restaurant (“The Pentagon”).

Endurance, Kansas

The city has been down on its luck since about 1981. Endurance was much more rural when Doc Cosmic (aka Steve Hubble) was born in the late 1950s. In fact, he was born and raised as a farm boy, but the city swallowed his parents’ farm in the 1970s.

Bars: Bars vastly outnumber cinemas and churches. Some bar names include Spurs (country-and-western bar, with line dancing on Thursdays), Lightning, Outlaws (bar of Five Corners hotel), and Anonymous Rave.

Churches: Endurance Methodist Church is a small church on the outskirts of town with a crypt and an attached graveyard; it’s where Doc Cosmic is buried. Crypt is specially fitted to be hard to enter (but easy to escape, if someone were to come back from the dead). Other churches, synagogues, etc. exist. Endurance does not have a notable Muslim population.

Hotels: Some chain hotels. Best hotel in town is Five Corners, built at a five-way intersection in town, on Main Street. The hotel has a pool, a fitness room, a bar (“Outlaws”) and a restaurant (“The Pentagon”).

Parks: There are a number of small parks, and the Musgrave Memorial Park is probably the best place to talk without probably being overheard. There are picnic stands and the exterior of the park was set up so that shotgun mikes aren’t feasible. Even the park is vulnerable to super-senses.

Restaurants: Usual chain restaurants exist. Locally, in order from low to the city’s single Michelin-starred restaurant: Checkerboard (down home feel), Kelly’s Roost, Hero Station (theme restaurant with lots of hero and villain memorabilia), The Pentagon (Five Corners restaurant), Nouvelle (Michelin star, near hotel).

The Golden Age Retirement Home

Outside the city limits of Endurance is a large walled institute with spacious grounds. Buildings include main retirement home, groundskeeping hut, security building, and maintenance building.

Main retirement home: Two stories, and shaped like a cross, aligned with compass; each arm indicates level of aid required, from “Aid” to “Complete”, with center containing medical, food, and entertainment facilities. Some staff live here.

Security hut: Near gate, cameras, controls invisible force field over grounds. Easier to get into buildings once you’re on the grounds. Tunnel access to underground hangar.

Maintenance hut: Controls for HVAC, access to geothermal tap for electricity, etc.

Groundskeeping hut: Riding mowers and the like, plus tunnel access to underground hangar.

Underground hangar: No vehicles, several entrances/exits, including to medical facilities in main room, groundskeeping shed, security building.

Secret operating theater: Through a secret door in an apartment; door is sized for someone in a wheelchair or on a gurney. Long sloped corridor down leading to locker room; locker room exit leads to large circular room with floor drains, possibly former operating theater, and with mystic sigils painted on floor. The room has braziers and tall candle holders.

Qualities: Spacious grounds, high security, hidden areas, retirement home.

[jhmcmullen]

(Ex) Sidekicks 2

Originally written for the ICONS Assembled role playing game, but should be adaptable to most other superhero RPGs.

Characters

Random roll. But when you’re making it all fit together, remember the following:

You used to be a sidekick. Now, well, maybe you’re a hero, maybe you’re a sporting goods manager in Omaha, maybe you’re a big name on a TV show, maybe you betrayed everyone for reasons and you’re out of prison on parole. Maybe you’re an immortal 12-year-old, forever on the cusp of puberty and you’re still a sidekick.

You’re legal enough to go to the funeral and the reading of the will, at least one of which will see heavy police presence (Police Commissioner Bruce will be there).

You should tell me who you used to be a sidekick for, and what happened. (Short is okay. “I was the sidekick for the Zoom Master, but quit when he lost his battle with the bottle. Knocked around for a bit trying to be a sidekick for others, but now I’m a session musician in New York. No wife, but a steady girlfriend, Lisa.”)

You know the other player characters. Your choice whether you like them or not, or know them well. But you know them, and you have your own reasons to work with them.

If you need help on character creation, see your GM or I can be reached here.

Feel free to create FATE style linkages between your characters: Maybe you always had a crush on the other character. Maybe your new wife is nervous because she’s heard that superheroines are “easy.” Maybe you’re now a ghost, because you got killed in the same fight that killed your mentor but now you fight for the “differently-existing” and you got help from some other character. Even, “Hey, remember how we fought every month because our mentors said it would be good training?”

Background

None of this is canon unless you need it. But if you do…well, here it is.

For convenience’s sake, assume there was/is a loose group of heroes called the Guild of Guardians (or just the Guardians), and that there is an even looser group of villains called Eminences Noir. (There’s a spinoff group of the tech villains called Menlo Barons, and another spinoff– I guess we don’t need to go there.) If you can’t think of the name of the group that your sidekick’s hero belonged to, it was the Guardians.

If you really really want there to be a team of sidekicks (like the Teen Titans or the Young Avengers), uh, there were two notable ones for our purposes (unless no one wants to mention them). The Free Masks were not approved by the older heroes, and the Equity Ensigns were approved. You can probably guess that the Free Masks were cool but made more mistakes, and the Equity Ensigns were considered dorky but learned the Guardian way of doing things and had access to some Guardian stuff.

[jhmcmullen]

(Ex) Sidekicks 1

Originally written for the ICONS Assembled role playing game, but should be adaptable to most other superhero RPGs.

The Man of Photons is dead.

Once, Doc Cosmic, the man of photons, the ray of hope, he was one of the greatest. Every PC met him, at least once, before he retired, years ago. Some of them might know what his identity was; some might not. Some might have known him well enough that they expect to be at the reading of the will; some might be surprised.

You were all sidekicks, back when he was active. Now? Up to you, because that’s a decade ago. Maybe you’re heroes. Maybe you’re former villains. Maybe you’ve retired, and you run a sporting goods store in Omaha. Doesn’t matter. For this long weekend, you’re wearing a mask again (assuming you ever did), and on Saturday you’ll be at the funeral. Sunday, you’ll be at the will reading. Monday, you’ll wrap up.

Expenses are taken care of by the estate. They’re paying for the flights, for the rooms and for room service. (Hey, they had enough money to have him in that fancy-pants old age home for supers…they can pay for you, too.)

[thewritewire]

[jhmcmullen]

Though all of the various story structure theories are helpful, remember this one.

[jhmcmullen]

[jhmcmullen]

There's no I in team

The first superhero game I played repeatedly was Champions. Champions, like D&D, encourages tactical play, so teams tend to have types: there's the lots-of-damage-melee guy, the damage-at-range guy, the hits-what's-hard-to-hit guy, and the oddball, who either does damage to folks the others can't touch, or has some sensory thing that the others can't duplicate, or works as a support person. Your fighter, your wizard, your rogue, and your cleric, in other words. And in terms of gaming, that's certainly what I did for years and years and I don't even want to admit how old I am. But that's not the way that teams work in the comics. Teams, as I've said elsewhere, exist between one of two poles: the IP parking lot pole and the Peyton Place pole. An IP parking lot is a place to put characters just to prove that the Intellectual Property is being used; and Peyton Place is a foment of internal passions and discord. In the first, the villain is essential; in the second, the villain is, well, secondary and exists primarily to point out character things. ("This is why our love can never work, Moonsilver: Because you were not horrified when Amy Geddon said she wanted to kill everyone and start over...") These distinctions are hardly absolute: the deMatteis-Giffen era Justice League tweaked personalities so that the interaction of the characters was primary and the villains were secondary, but it would be hard to find a purer example of an IP parking lot than the Justice League. On the other hand, the freshly-Kickstarted Masks RPG has a set of personalities and powers are almost irrelevant: what's important to the story is how the characters are going to react. Most traditional games approach it from the tactical end. Each character has a role. In games such as Champions, the role is about what the character does. In games such as Masks, the role is about what the character is or how he/she/it reacts. A game with random character creation is more like an IP parking lot because you have no idea what's going to show up. It might be the burrowing guy with the magic staff, the interstellar cop with the light sabre, the speedster who has trouble hitting Mach 1, and the cosmically powered witch. I assume that most players want something in the middle. They want something that isn't just tactical, but the idea that the villain is secondary isn't quite their cup of tea either. So how do you fit them together? If you don't know what characters you're getting, maybe the answer is to take a page from FATE (and sort of Masks): Powers are irrelevant to working together. What they have are Aspects or disadvantages. The Aspects or disadvantages are crafted to make the team work together (or to create friction while making the team work together). For instance, the X-Men all have the mutant disadvantage. It doesn't just mean that they show up on bioscanners that the bad guys have...it also means that the world hates and fears them, that there are strong social pressures to keep them with the group. Most of the X-Men are young, so they fit into the school setting. That's an example of social pressure holding them in place, and perhaps it could be gamed that way. Did they ever do the road trip with X-23, Sabretooth, Logan, and his son Daken all trapped in the car for a long journey? Because that's pure comic book: that's four people with essentially the same powers but different ways of reacting. Maybe you can use something like that instead of saying, "Hey, we need an energy blaster." Or, like, you can re-roll your character until you get an energy blaster. Whatever works for you.

[thewritershandbook]

Sometimes it can be hard to find the right words to describe individual facial features, faces in general, bodies, and even hair. I’m hoping this post will be a good resource for describing the looks of characters in your story.

[jhmcmullen]

Love these sort of lists.

[jhmcmullen]

Creating Stunning Character Arcs, Pt. 2: The Lie Your Character Believes - Helping Writers Become Authors

Out of resistance comes conflict; out of conflict comes plot. This is the first of many ways in which plot and character arcs are inextricable.

I’m not sure this is an interesting way of creating (for me) but it’s certainly an interesting way of analysing your story once you need to look it over.

There are multiple parts to this series (which you can tell, because this is part 2). Worth reading to me, because it brings in material from sources I haven’t looked at.

[silvokrent]

Source.

[jhmcmullen]

But compare with Syd Field's seven point story structure, used by Dan Wells and others.

[tabletopresources]

Writing Body Language

It happened to me about an hour ago. I was writing a scene between two characters and I knew I had one central goal: To “show” the audience how someone was reacting via body language rather than “telling” them outright.

Tell Example: “I’m sure you do,” said Sara sarcastically. Note how the writer explicitly tells the reader the underlying meaning and tone of Sara’s response.

Show Example: Sara’s lips were pressed together in a thin line as Carl spoke. “I’m sure you do,” she said through a half smile. Note how the writer shows the reader Sara’s actions, her body language. The reader would be quite aware of the cues body language provides, and begins to feel the underlying emotion behind that gesture rather than being outright told.

The central element in the example above was an understanding of and appreciation for body language. We communicate much of the messages we send and receive non verbally. And it could be argued that part of the excitement and interest we have in interacting with others is using that ability to piece together the clues and come to our own conclusions about what someone is thinking. The fun is partly diminished if that game is ruined by outright telling us exactly what we’re supposed to get from a scene, deciding for us how we’re supposed to think and feel about a situation.

So I decided I’d get over that short writer’s block by looking up resources for writing better body language. After reading through a LOT of online resources (many of which promised much but delivered little, or ended up just recommending a book that I could buy if I really wanted those GREAT tips) I did manage to track down a few that I feel actually helped me get a sense of the message I was trying to convey and gave me inspiring tips to do so through various characters’ body language.

I share them here in hopes you might find them interesting, maybe even helpful.

Body Language

Body Language: An Artistic Writing Tool

How to Write with Body Language

Translating Body Language

41 Flavors of Body Language for Writers

Body Language Basics

Quick Sheet anyone?

Check out Tabletop Gaming Resources for more art, tips and tools for your game!

[jhmcmullen]

Been there, like this.

[cassieisnotapie]

41 Emotions as Expressed through Body Language

Found Here x

41 Emotions as Expressed through Body Language Unique 

This list, while exhausting, is soooo not exhaustive; it barely scratches the surface. And each entry could easily become cliché (if it isn’t already). But, it should be enough to get you started. Want more? Start watching people (not in a creepy way), and take notes of what they seem to do when expressing different emotions. Your repertoire of expression will double in no time. PS—do not use these for actual, real-life body language reading; you will fail. These are strictly novelistic.

Awed  -Slack -jawed, raised eyebrows, staring  -Frozen, slack body language (Self? What self? There is only Zuul.)  -Take a step back and put a hand to his heart

Amused  -Smiling and throwing back her head laughing  -Slapping her thighs, stamping her feet, clapping her hands  -Shaking her head (That’s so wrong!)

Angry/Aggressive  -Sharp movements, like shaking a fist, pointing, slashing, or slamming a fist on a table  -Flushed face, patchy red blotches  -Tension in neck—chords standing out, veins throbbing—and jutting or tucked chin  -Arms akimbo, or clenching fists  -Entering someone else’s space and forcing them out  -Poofing up with a wide stance (I am big! Very big!), arms wide (Bring it!)  -Lowered eyebrows, squinting eyes  -Teeth bared, jaw clenched, snarling

Annoyed  -Pressing lips together into a thin line  -Narrowing eyes sometimes with slight head tilt (Why do you still exist?)  -Rolling eyes, often paired with a long-suffering sigh

Anxious  -Fidgeting, such as tearing grass into little pieces, playing with a ring, or chewing on a pencil  -Biting lower lip, swallowing unnecessarily  -Quickened breathing or holding breath  -Darting eyes  -Pallor, sweating, clammy palms  -Unusually high-pitched, “nervous” laughter  -Hunched shoulders  -Pacing

Attentive  -Slow head nodding with a furrowed brow  -Leaning forward, toward the speaker, and sitting up  -Taking notes  -Looking over the top of her glasses

Bored  -Resting his head on his palm, peeking out between the fingers, maybe even slipping so his head “accidentally” hits the table  -Tapping toes, twirling pencil, doodling, and otherwise fidgeting  -Staring out a window, or at anything remotely more interesting (Which is everything …)

Confident  -Arms clasped behind body  -Head lifted, chest out, standing tall  -Walking briskly and making firm, precise movements

Confused  -Tilting head with narrowed eyes  -A furrowed brow  -Shrugging

Contempt/Superiority  -Lifted chin (The better to look down the nose.)  -Pursed lips, sneering, slight frown  -Circling a shoulder, stretching her neck, turning away—anything to indicate she doesn’t see the person as a threat or worthy of her attention  -Grabbing her lapels, or tucking her thumbs in her waistcoat (See this clothing? It is much nicer than yours.)  -Dismissive hand-waving

Cynical/Sarcastic/Bitter  -Twisted lips or a half-smile  -Sneering, sometimes with shaking the head and other defensive body language  -Pressed lips with a slight frown  -Eye rolling

Defensive  -Crossed arms, legs, crossed anything, really (Well, maybe not fingers … or eyes …)  -Arms out, palms forward (Stop!)  -Placing anything (sword, shield, book, backpack) in front of her body

Disgusted  -Crinkling his nose  -Curling his lip and/or showing the tip of his tongue briefly  -Flinching back and interposing a shoulder or turning away  -Covering his nose, gagging, and squinting his eyes shut—hard—for a moment. (It assaults all the senses.)

Displeased  -A plastered-on fake smile (You suck; but I can’t tell you that. So here: a fake smile! Enjoy.)  -Pouting or frowning (I’ll cry if you don’t give me what I want—don’t test me, I will!)  -Crossed arms and other defensive/frustrated body language (I will not let that terrible idea influence me!)

Distressed  -Wide eyes and shallow, rapid breathing  -Beating the walls, or huddling into a corner  -Clasping hands over his head protectively  -Rocking himself  -Handwringing  -Running his hands through his hair

Earnest/Passionate  -Leaning forward, nodding, wide eyes with strong eye contact and raised eyebrows  -Hand on heart, or presented palms-up, or otherwise visible  -A double-handed handshake (I really want to make sure you understand me!)

Embarrassment  -Blushing  -Stammering  -Covering her face with her hands or bowing her head (I’m so embarrassed, I can’t look!)  -Difficulty maintaining eye contact, looking down and away

Excited/Anticipation  -Rubbing hands together (I can’t wait to get my hands on it!)  -Licking lips (It’s so close I can taste it!)  -A vigorous, pumping handshake (I can’t wait to get started!)  -Jumping up and down (Look at me being literal here! I am jumping for joy.)  -A wide and easy grin

Flirty  -Eye play, like winking, looking up through the lashes, over the shoulder glances, and eye catching   -Preening, like hair flipping or smooth, clothing straightening, spine straightening, etc.  -Striking a cowboy pose, with his thumbs gripping his belt tight

Frustrated  -Shaking his head (You are so wrong!)  -Massaging temples (My brain—it hurts.)  -Clasping his wrist in his opposite hand, behind his back (Bad arm! No biscuit.)  -Running his hands through his hair (All this frustration is making my hair mussy. I can feel it.)  -Grabbing onto something like armrests, or white-knuckled interdigitation (Restrain yourself!)

Happy  -Smiling and laughing  -Eyes and nose crinkling  -Swinging her arms, spinning loosely, dancing, jumping

Impatience  -Quick head nodding (Get on with it!)  -Toe/finger tapping (Hear this? These are seconds. Wasted. Listening to you.)  -Sighing, checking the clock/sundial/freckles (Time. It is moving so slowly.)

Jealous  -Tight lips, or a sour expression  -Narrow eyes locked on the perpetrator, to the point of a stare down  -Crossed arms, and additional frustrated, angry, possessive, or bitter body language

Lying  -Scratching their nose, ear, neck, miscellaneous part of face  -Sudden change in behavior or demeanor, including shifty eye contact, lots of long blinking, shrugging -Ill-timed smiles or laughter (This is how I normally smile, right? Right???)  -Additional anxiety body language  -Shaking head no while saying “yes” (I can’t believe I just lied.)  -Licking lips, covering mouth, touching mouth, etc.

Overwhelmed  -Both palms to forehead, fingers splayed (This gives me a headache.)  -Covering eyes with one hand (If I can’t see the world, it can’t see me …)  -Eyes wide and staring into space, hands gripping the table in front of her (… Woah.)

Playful/Friendly  -Winking  -Waggling eyebrows  -Tiny shoves or nudge

Pleasure  -Head tilted back, lips parted slightly, eyes wide or closed  -Slow, languorous movements, stretching (such as arching her neck or back)  -Slight flush, quickened breath and pulse

Possessive  -Handshake with arm clasp  -Putting hands on or around someone’s shoulders, neck, waist, back, or even just the wall near them  -Standing in someone’s personal space, body positioned toward that person  -Any one-sided act of intimacy, like running a knuckle down someone’s cheek  -Staring down any who get too close

Proud/Dominant  -Chin up, chest out, shoulders back  -A painfully hard handshake that not only squishes the bones, but also forces his hand on top  -Leaning back with his hands behind his head, and his feet up  -Strong, unblinking, focused eye contact

Reluctance/Resistance  -Arms crossed, sometimes with fists (Not happening.)  -Dragging feet (But I don’t wanna!)  -Pinching nose (You want me to do what now?)  -Clamping hands over ears (La la la la!)

Sad/Upset  -Droopy body (and anything held, like a sword), bowed in shoulders, wrapping arms around self  -Slow movements with hesitation  -Bottom lip jutting out and/or quivering  -Crying, sobbing, body shaking, sniffling, wet eyes

Secretive  -A tight-lipped smile (My lips are zipped.)  -Hiding her hands in her pockets (What has it got in its nasty little pocket?)  -Looking away

Scared  -Hunched shoulders, shrinking back from others (Don’t hurt me!)  -Wide eyes and lifted eyebrows (The better to see them coming.)  -Shaking, trembling, or freezing  -Rocking from side to side, sometimes holding self (It’ll all be okay, self, it’ll all be okay.)

Shame  -Slumped shoulders (Don’t look at me.)  -Trouble meeting your gaze, looking down and away  -Burying her face in her hands or bowing her head (I can’t face the world right now.)

Shocked  -Hands covering her mouth, or mouth hanging open, sometimes with a gasp (If I had words, I would be saying them.) -Freezing and staring with wide eyes and eyebrows raised (Diverting all resources toward staring.)  -Smacking a palm into his forehead (Clearly, my head isn’t working right, or I wouldn’t have seen that)

Shy  -Avoids eye contact, or has only fleeting eye contact (Eye contact means you might speak to me.)  -Keeps a fair distance from everyone, and will back away if someone steps closer (Space invaders!)  -Folded arms, head down, and other defensive body language (If I make myself small, they can’t see me.)

Smug  -Slight, close-lipped smile (occasionally one-sided) and sometimes one raised eyebrow (I know something you don’t know.)  -Chin slightly tucked, Mona Lisa smile, raised eyebrows (I know better.)  -Finger steepling (I am so smaaaht.)

Suspicious/Skeptical/Disbelief  -Narrowed eyes, sometimes with a sidelong glance or raised eyebrow (Perhaps if I look at it out of the corner of my eye, I will catch it unawares.)  -Rubbing his eyes (I can’t believe what I’m metaphorically or literally seeing!)  -Shaking his head (I—I don’t believe it.)  -Blowing out cheeks (Well , I don’t know …)

Tired  -Rubbing his eyes, eyes staring into space, raised eyebrows (Raising my eyebrows helps keep my eyes open.)  -Yawning and/or stretching (I am tired—see? Tired! Too tired to care!)  -Almost nodding off and jerking awake (Cannot. Stay. Awa—snnnnurzzzz.)  -Gritting teeth to stay awake (Cannot—yawn—dang it!)

Thoughtfulness/Thinking  -Steepling fingers (I will think better if I center myself and focus.)  -Pinching nose, sometimes with closed eyes (Focus, focus—I just need to focus.)  -Tugging on an ear (This will help me remember!)  -Stroking a real or imaginary beard (People with beards look smart.)  -Furrowed brow, narrowed eyes, sometimes tilted head and pressing lips together (I can’t see it—I will try harder!)  -Resting his chin on his hand (Thinking makes my head heavy.)

Triumphant  -Hands clenched and held above head while grimacing (She is invincible!)  -Head tilted back with a yell (She is fierce!)  -Arm pumping in the air, jumping (Woohoo!)

[jhmcmullen]

Not the only ones you want to use, and some seem obvious, but I suspect that the obvious ones will differ between people.

It's a start at a body language thesaurus, anyway.

[jhmcmullen]

The Angry GM delivers advice to players and dungeon masters of fantasy role-playing games with humor, snark, and attitude. Game masters and players are sure to find something of use, whether they are playing AD&D, D&D 3.5, D&D 4E, 5E, Pathfinder, D&D Next, or any other role-playing game.

It seems to me that this could be interestingly applied to the neighbourhoods of a city.